Small cat keeps wandering into town!

[justabigdisco]

We have a 2 year old female who is/was a runt, and not expected to survive. She is the size of a kitten and not the sharpest tool in the box!
She goes outside during the day but we lock her in at night. Recently, we've been getting phone calls (phone number on her collar) from concerned members of the public who have encountered her in town, wandering in and out of the road
It seems that she is straying further and further from the house and I'm so scared she will be run over, as it seems she has no road (or any) sense!
Any tips, apart from keeping her inside full time (which we don't want to do as she LOVES going out and paws at the cat flap every morning until we open it)

I have one a bit like this. Get her chipped in case the collar is lost.

Will she come in when you call her? Mine does when I rattle the go-cat box. I trained her by rattling the box before meals, and then only letting her out when very hungry. You could limit her wandering by calling her back 15 minutes after she goes out.

The Lodger is like that but he's a very sharp chisel indeed in most ways. Just that he brought himself up on the streets and has this grand unconcern for cars and their like. (I've seen him lie down of a sunny day and start to wash in the middle of the street.)

Other than keeping her in, I don't think there's much you can do apart from chipping and getting the insurance policy up to date.

Agonizing isn't it?

PS - sorry, you could get an outdoor run for her but I'm guessing you already considered and rejected that as not sufficient.

She does usually come when we call. She seems to wander more on days when we are out eg at work. When we're in the house she seems to stay near and pop back often.

In that case I would be tempted to only let her out when you're at home. That seems like a reasonable compromise for her.

Poor minicat, she loves going out to play

Your decision then. She would still get to go out to play - just at certain times. And she would be less likely to be injured in a RTA.

You're all right of course. Thanks! Will keep her in tomorrow I think and see how she gets on.